U.S. patent application number 11/826460 was filed with the patent office on 2007-11-15 for relay method, relay device, communication system, and computer program.
This patent application is currently assigned to Fujitsu Limited. Invention is credited to Noriyuki Fukuyama, Hideaki Miyazaki, Masanobu Morinaga.
Application Number | 20070263597 11/826460 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36677426 |
Filed Date | 2007-11-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070263597 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Morinaga; Masanobu ; et
al. |
November 15, 2007 |
Relay method, relay device, communication system, and computer
program
Abstract
The present invention enables accurate simulation of the state
of communication over a communication network in which a
communication channel of different communication characteristic is
set for each protocol and session, such as a VoIP network built in
a multi-vender environment, and evaluation of communication quality
of communications between IP phones, etc. over a supposed
communication network. A relay device for relaying packet
communications between a plurality of communication devices is
used, and the relay device sets a virtual processing unit as an
initial process so that it corresponds to the packet transmission
direction and/or attribute, based on the contents of a received
packet specified by a control protocol, and relays communications
of packets after the initial process, based on the packet loss rate
and delay time distribution indicated by communication state
information associated with the processing unit.
Inventors: |
Morinaga; Masanobu;
(Kawasaki, JP) ; Miyazaki; Hideaki; (Kawasaki,
JP) ; Fukuyama; Noriyuki; (Kawasaki, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
STAAS & HALSEY LLP
SUITE 700
1201 NEW YORK AVENUE, N.W.
WASHINGTON
DC
20005
US
|
Assignee: |
Fujitsu Limited
Kawasaki
JP
|
Family ID: |
36677426 |
Appl. No.: |
11/826460 |
Filed: |
July 16, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
PCT/JP2005/000411 |
Jan 14, 2005 |
|
|
|
11826460 |
Jul 16, 2007 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
370/351 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 43/087 20130101;
H04L 43/0829 20130101; H04L 43/00 20130101; H04L 47/32 20130101;
H04L 47/283 20130101; H04L 47/2416 20130101; H04L 43/0852 20130101;
H04L 47/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
370/351 |
International
Class: |
H04L 12/28 20060101
H04L012/28 |
Claims
1-12. (canceled)
13. A relay method for transmitting a packet received from one
communication device to other communication device, comprising the
steps of: setting a virtual processing unit corresponding to a
packet transmission direction and/or attribute; deriving a
transmission time of a received packet based on prerecorded
communication state information indicating a communication state,
by the processing unit; and transmitting the packet based on the
derived time, by the processing unit.
14. A relay device for transmitting a packet received from one
communication device to other communication device, comprising a
processing unit corresponding to a packet transmission direction
and/or attribute, for deriving a transmission time of a packet
based on prerecorded communication state information indicating a
communication state, and transmitting the packet based on the
derived time.
15. A relay device for transmitting a packet received from one
communication device to other communication device, comprising a
controller setting a virtual processing unit corresponding to a
packet transmission direction, said virtual processing unit
deriving a transmission time of a packet based on prerecorded
communication state information indicating a communication state,
and transmitting the packet based on the derived time.
16. The relay device as set forth in claim 15, wherein the
communication state information contains information showing a
packet loss rate and a delay time distribution, and wherein said
processing unit discards a packet based on the loss rate contained
in the communication state information, and accumulates a packet
based on a delay time contained in the communication state
information.
17. The relay device as set forth in claim 15, wherein the
communication state information is recorded in association with the
processing unit.
18. The relay device as set forth in claim 15, wherein the packet
is a control packet specified by a control protocol, and wherein
said controller is further capable of setting a virtual signaling
processing unit for processing the control packet, in the
processing unit.
19. The relay device as set forth in claim 15, wherein the packet
is a streaming communication packet specified by a streaming
protocol, and wherein said controller is further capable of.setting
a virtual media processing unit for processing the streaming
communication packet, in the processing unit.
20. The relay device as set forth in claim 15, wherein said
controller is further programmed for setting a plurality of logical
communication ports corresponding to a plurality of logical
communication channels, respectively, through a single physical
communication line, and wherein the communication channels
correspond to the plurality of processing units, respectively.
21. The relay device as set forth in claim 15, wherein said
processing unit performs encoding and decoding data contained in a
received packet.
22. The relay device as set forth in claim 21, wherein said
processing unit performs a plurality of times of encoding and
decoding whose processing methods are respectively defined.
23. A relay device for transmitting a packet received from one
communication device to other communication device, comprising a
first setting unit which sets a virtual processing unit
corresponding to a packet transmission direction, said virtual
processing unit deriving a transmission time of a packet based on
prerecorded communication state information indicating a
communication state and transmits the packet based on the derived
time.
24. The relay device as set forth in claim 23, wherein the
communication state information contains information showing a
packet loss rate and a delay time distribution, and wherein said
processing unit comprises: a discarding unit which discards a
packet based on the loss rate contained in the communication state
information; and an accumulating unit which accumulates a packet
based on a delay time contained in the communication state
information.
25. The relay device as set forth in claim 23, wherein the
communication state information is recorded in association with the
processing unit.
26. The relay device as set forth in claim 23, wherein the packet
is a control packet specified by a control protocol, and wherein
said first setting unit sets a virtual signaling processing unit
for processing the control packet, in the processing unit.
27. The relay device as set forth in claim 23, wherein the packet
is a streaming communication packet specified by a streaming
protocol, and wherein said first setting unit sets a virtual media
processing unit for processing the streaming communication packet,
in the processing unit.
28. The relay device as set forth in claim 23, further comprising a
second setting unit which sets a plurality of logical communication
ports corresponding to a plurality of logical communication
channels, respectively, through a single physical communication
line, and wherein the communication channels correspond to the
plurality of processing units, respectively.
29. The relay device as set forth in claim 23, wherein said
processing unit further comprises an encoding and decoding unit
which encodes and decodes data contained in a received packet.
30. The relay device as set forth in claim 29, wherein said
encoding and decoding unit performs a plurality of times of
encoding and decoding whose processing methods are respectively
defined.
31. A communication system comprising: a relay device defined in
claim 14; and a plurality of communication devices for
communicating with each other through said relay device.
32. A communication system comprising: a relay device defined in
claim 15; and a plurality of communication devices for
communicating with each other through said relay device.
33. A communication system comprising: a relay device defined in
claim 23; and a plurality of communication devices for
communicating with each other through said relay device.
34. A recording medium encoded with a computer program that when
executed by a computer causes the computer to perform a method
comprising: communicating with a plurality of devices to transmit a
packet received from one device to other device; and setting a
virtual processing unit, which derives a transmission time of a
packet based on prerecorded communication state information
indicating a communication state and transmits the packet based on
the derived time, in association with a packet transmission
direction and/or attribute.
Description
[0001] The present application is a continuation of PCT
International Application No. PCT/JP2005/000411 which has an
International filing date of Jan. 14, 2005 and designated the
United States of America.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates to a relay method for relaying
packet communications between a plurality of communication devices;
a relay device adopting the relay method; a communication system
comprising the relay device; and a computer program for realizing
the relay device, and more particularly relates to a relay method,
a relay device, a communication system and a computer program for
use in simulating the communication state of real-time
communications such as IP telephony.
BACKGROUND ART
[0003] In recent years, there is an increasing use of real-time
applications including streaming distribution, such as VoIP (Voice
over Internet Protocol) and VoPN (Voice over Packet Network), which
perform transmission and reception of audio and image data between
devices over a communication network such as an IP network. When a
real-time application is used, the reproduction quality in
reproducing audio and video data received on the application is
influenced by the state of the IP network. Therefore, a guideline
determined by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
defines that providers of IP phone services should maintain certain
communication quality for their services.
[0004] However, since a VoIP network including a plurality of
communication networks such as an IP network and a public network,
which provides IP phone services, is generally built in a
multi-vender environment, it is difficult to secure and evaluate
the transmission quality over the VoIP network. It is therefore
necessary to provide an evaluation method for predicting
communication quality between communicating terminal devices making
a call, namely end-to-end communication quality, by simulating the
characteristics of the communication network representing the
communication state over the VoIP network, and actually making a
call between the terminal devices. A method for simulating the
communication state to evaluate the quality of such communications
is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 2997607.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0005] However, in the VoIP network, although signaling transmitted
by a protocol such as SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and media
such as video data and audio data transmitted by a protocol such as
RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) pass through different
communication channels according to the types and there is often a
difference in the characteristics between the up-direction and
down-direction communication channels, a conventional method
performs the process relating to the reproduction of the
communication state under a single condition, and therefore there
is a problem that it is difficult to accurately reproduce and
evaluate the state of communication using a different communication
channel for each session, such as signaling and media type.
[0006] Moreover, there is a problem that, although conversion such
as encoding and decoding is performed for the communication of
audio data over the VoIP network, the influence of the conversion
on the communication quality is not taken into consideration.
[0007] The present invention has been made to solve the above
problems, and it is a main object of the invention to provide a
relay method capable of accurately reproducing and evaluating the
communication state by setting a processing unit for executing
processes related to the reproduction of the communication state of
packets required for communication in association with the
transmission direction and/or attribute of a packet; a relay device
adopting the relay method; a communication system comprising the
relay device; and a computer program for realizing the relay
device.
[0008] It is another object of the invention to provide a relay
device capable of accurately reproducing the communication state by
further performing encoding and decoding processes in the
processing units.
[0009] A relay method according to a first aspect is a relay method
for transmitting a packet received from one communication device to
other communication device, characterized by comprising the steps
of: setting a virtual processing unit corresponding to a packet
transmission direction and/or attribute; deriving a transmission
time of a received packet based on prerecorded communication state
information indicating a communication state, by the processing
unit; and transmitting the packet based on the derived time, by the
processing unit.
[0010] In the relay method of the present invention, since
different processing units are used according to the transmission
directions and/or attributes, it is possible to accurately simulate
and evaluate the communication state over a communication network
in which a communication channel of different communication
characteristic is set for each session, such as a VoIP network
built in a multi-vendor environment.
[0011] A relay device according to a second aspect is a relay
device for transmitting a packet received from one communication
device to other communication device, characterized by comprising a
processing unit corresponding to a packet transmission direction
and/or attribute, for deriving a transmission time of a packet
based on prerecorded communication state information indicating a
communication state, and transmitting the packet based on the
derived time.
[0012] In the relay device of the present invention, since
different processing units are used according to the transmission
directions and/or attributes, it is possible to accurately simulate
and evaluate the communication state over a communication network
in which a communication channel of different communication
characteristic is set for each session, such as a VoIP network
built in a multi-vendor environment.
[0013] A relay device according to a third aspect is a relay device
for transmitting a packet received from one communication device to
other communication device, characterized by comprising setting
means for setting a virtual processing unit corresponding to a
packet transmission direction, wherein said processing unit derives
a transmission time of a packet based on prerecorded communication
state information indicating a communication state and transmits
the packet based on the derived time.
[0014] In the relay device of the present invention, since a
virtual processing unit is set for each transmission direction, it
is possible to accurately simulate and evaluate the communication
state over a communication network in which a communication channel
of different communication characteristic is set for each session,
such as a VoIP network.
[0015] A relay device according to a fourth aspect is based on the
third aspect, and characterized in that the communication state
information contains information showing a packet loss rate and a
delay time distribution, and the processing unit comprises: means
for discarding a packet based on the loss rate contained in the
communication state information; and means for accumulating a
packet based on a delay time contained in the communication state
information.
[0016] With the relay device according to the present invention, it
is possible to simulate the communication state of a communication
network based on the packet loss rate and the delay time
distribution.
[0017] A relay device according to a fifth aspect is based on the
third aspect or the fourth aspect, and characterized in that the
communication state information is recorded in association with the
processing unit.
[0018] With the relay device according to the present invention,
since it is possible to simulate a different communication state
for each commutation channel by executing processes, such as
discarding and accumulation of packets, based on the communication
state information associated with the processing unit, and thus it
is possible to accurately simulate communication over a
communication network in which a communication channel is set for
each session.
[0019] A relay device according to a sixth aspect is based on any
one of the third aspect through the fifth aspect, and characterized
in that the packet is a control packet specified by a control
protocol, and said setting means sets a virtual signaling
processing unit for processing the control packet, in the
processing unit.
[0020] With the relay device according to the present invention, it
is possible to simulate the communication state for each protocol
such as SIP that is a control signaling protocol by setting a
signaling processing unit by an initial process (INVITE process)
for setting up a call based on the contents of a received packet
specified by a control protocol.
[0021] A relay device according to a seventh aspect is based on any
one of the third aspect through the sixth aspect, and characterized
in that the packet is a streaming communication packet specified by
a streaming protocol, and said setting means sets a virtual media
processing unit for processing the streaming communication packet,
in the processing unit.
[0022] With the relay device according to the present invention,
since a media processing unit is set for each session including a
type of audio, video, etc. specified by a streaming protocol such
as RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol), it is possible to accurately
simulate the communication state over a communication network in
which a communication channel is set for each session, and suitably
set a processing unit according to communication to be simulated,
such as voice communication, and communication including video to
be used as a television phone.
[0023] A relay device according to an eighth aspect is based on the
third through the seventh aspect, and characterized by further
comprising means for setting a plurality of logical communication
ports corresponding to a plurality of logical communication
channels, respectively, through a single physical communication
line, and characterized in that the communication channels
correspond to the plurality of processing units, respectively.
[0024] With the relay device according to the present invention,
since a plurality of logical communication ports are set using
single communication means such as a network card as hardware, it
is possible to set a plurality of virtual communication channels by
single hardware, and therefore it is possible to realize
communication channels in up-direction and down-direction and
simulate the communication state related to a plurality of
communication channels which pass a plurality of communications,
with a limited hardware structure.
[0025] A relay device according to a ninth aspect is based on any
one of the third aspect through the eighth aspect, and
characterized in that the processing unit further comprises
encoding and decoding means for encoding and decoding data
contained in a received packet.
[0026] With the relay device according to the present invention, by
reproducing the process of encoding and decoding audio data which
is performed in communicating audio data over a communication
network by a CODEC (Coder-Decoder), it is possible to accurately
simulate an actual communication state.
[0027] The relay device according to a tenth aspect is based on the
ninth aspect, and characterized in that the encoding and decoding
means is constructed to perform a plurality of times of encoding
and decoding whose processing methods are respectively defined.
[0028] With the relay device according to the present invention,
since it is possible to reproduce communications through a
plurality of communication networks in which different CODEC
processes are performed, it is possible to accurately simulate an
actual communication state. In particular, even when the
communication networks include not only an IP network, but also a
circuit switching network, it is possible to simulate the
communication state reflecting the difference in the encoding and
decoding methods between the respective communication networks.
[0029] A communication system according to an eleventh aspect is
characterized by comprising: a relay device defined in any one of
the second aspect through the tenth aspect; and a plurality of
communication devices for communicating with each other through the
relay device.
[0030] In the communication system according to the present
invention, it is possible to accurately simulate and evaluate the
communication state over a communication network in which a
communication channel of different communication characteristic is
set for each session, such as a VoIP network.
[0031] A computer program according to a twelfth aspect is a
computer program for causing a computer comprising means for
communicating with a plurality of devices to transmit a packet
received from one device to other device, characterized in that
said computer program causes the computer to set a virtual
processing unit, which derives a transmission time of a packet
based on prerecorded communication state information indicating a
communication state and transmits the packet based on the derived
time, in association with a packet transmission direction and/or
attribute.
[0032] By executing the computer program according to the present
invention with a computer such as a communication computer, the
computer acts as a relay device for relaying communications to
simulate the communication state, and it is possible to accurately
simulate and evaluate the state of communication over a
communication network in which a communication channel of different
communication characteristic is set for each session, such as a
VoIP network.
[0033] According to the relay method, relay device, communication
system and computer program of the present invention, a relay
device for relaying packet communications between a plurality of
communication devices is used, and the relay device sets a virtual
processing unit based on the contents of a received packet
specified by a control protocol as an initial process so that it
corresponds to the packet transmission direction and/or attribute,
and relays communications of packets after the initial process,
based on the packet loss rate and the delay time distribution
indicated by the communication state information associated with
the processing unit.
[0034] In this structure, it is possible to accurately simulate the
communication state over a communication network in which a
communication channel of different communication characteristic is
set for each protocol and session, such as a VoIP network built in
a multi-vender environment, and thus it is possible to provide
advantageous effects, such as accurate evaluation of communication
quality of communication of IP phones, etc. over a supposed
communication network.
[0035] Moreover, in the relay device and so on of the present
invention, since it is possible to reproduce communications over a
plurality of communication networks in which different CODEC
processes are executed by performing a plurality of times of
encoding and decoding whose processing methods are respectively
defined on data contained in the received packets, it is possible
to provide advantageous effects, such as accurate simulation of an
actual communication state.
[0036] Further, by setting a plurality of logical communication
ports corresponding to a plurality of logical communication
channels, respectively, by using single communication means such as
a network card that is hardware to which single physical
communication line is connected, it is possible to set a plurality
of virtual communication channels by single hardware, and thus it
is possible to provide advantageous effect, such as realizing
communication channels in the up-direction and down-direction, and
further a simulation of the communication state related to a
plurality of communication channels which pass a plurality of
communications, with a limited hardware structure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0037] FIG. 1 is a conceptual view showing an example of a
communication system of the present invention;
[0038] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a structural example of
various devices included in the communication system of the present
invention;
[0039] FIG. 3 is a table conceptually showing one example of
recorded contents in a communication state database included in a
relay device of the present invention;
[0040] FIG. 4 is an explanatory view conceptually showing one
example of recorded contents in a channel table included in the
relay device of the present invention;
[0041] FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing conceptually
the relationship between a structural example of a part of a
program module developed by the relay device of the present
invention and other structures;
[0042] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a first communication initial
process to be performed by the relay device of the present
invention;
[0043] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a second communication initial
process to be performed by the relay device of the present
invention;
[0044] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a communication relay process
to be performed by the relay device of the present invention;
and
[0045] FIG. 9 is an explanatory view conceptually showing an
example of packets accumulated in a buffer set in the relay device
of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0046] The following description will explain the present invention
in detail with reference to the drawings illustrating an embodiment
thereof. In a communication quality evaluation system of the
present invention, first, the characteristics of a communication
network representing the state of end-to-end communication, such as
packet delay, loss rate and jitter between terminal devices, over
an existing communication network, such as a VoIP network, are
measured using, for example, a communication characteristic
measurement method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2004-188922
filed by the applicant of the present application. Then, based on
the measurement results, a communication state over the existing
communication network or a newly designed communication network is
simulated as a pseudo network to be used for an IP telephony
network, for example. Communication quality is evaluated using a
method such as a Mean Opinion Score by asking subjects to sense
simulated IP phone calls. Note that it may be possible to evaluate
the communication quality by other method, such as a method using
an existing measurement device.
[0047] FIG. 1 is a conceptual view showing an example of a
communication system of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1
represents a relay device of the present invention using a
communication computer, and, when simulating the state of
communication to evaluate communication quality, the relay device 1
performs various processes to reproduce delay of the packets over a
communication network to be evaluated, such as the derivation of
transmission times of packets and the transmission of packets based
on the derived transmission times. A connection device 2, such as a
repeater hub and a switching hub, is connected to the relay device
1 through a first communication line 101, and two communication
devices 3 and 3 using IP phones are connected to the connection
device 2 through second communication lines 102 and 102 used as a
pseudo network. If it is necessary to particularly distinguish the
respective communication devices 3 and 3, they are distinguished
from each other by indicating the communication device 3 on the
sending end as a first communication device 3a, and the
communication device 3 on the receiving end as a second
communication device 3b.
[0048] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a structural example of
various devices included in the communication system of the present
invention. The relay device 1 comprises control means 11 (first
setting unit, second setting unit) such as a CPU for controlling
the entire device; auxiliary storing means 12 such as a CD-ROM
drive for reading various kinds of information from a recording
medium 300 such as a CD-ROM on which various kinds of information
such as a computer program 200 of the present invention and data
are recorded; and recording means 13 such as a hard disk for
recording various kinds of information read by the auxiliary
storing means 12. The computer acts as the relay device 1 of the
present invention by reading various kinds of information such as
the computer program 200 of the present invention and data from the
recording means 13, storing them on storing means 14 such as a RAM
for temporarily storing information, and executing various
processing steps included in the computer program 200. Moreover,
the relay device 1 comprises communication means 15 such as a
network card for communicating with the connection device 2, and
clock means 16 for indicating the time. Note that a part of the
recording area of the recording means 13 is used as a communication
state database (communication state DB) 13a for recording
communication state information indicating the state of
communication, such as the distribution of delay times of packets.
It may be possible to use a part of the recording area of other
device connected to the relay device 1 as the communication state
database 13a instead of using a part of the recording area of the
recording means 13 as the communication state database 13a. Stored
in a part of the storage area of the storing means 14 is
information such as a channel table 14a storing information related
to communication cannels. Note that although the relay device 1 of
the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is connected to the
connection device 2 through a single first communication line 101
from one communication means 15 and connected to two communication
devices 3 and 3 through the connection device 2, it may be possible
to provide two communication means 15 and 15 corresponding to the
communication devices 3 and 3, respectively, and connect the relay
device 1 directly to the communication devices 3 and 3 without
using the connection device 2.
[0049] The communication device 3 comprises control means 31;
recording means 32; storing means 33, communication means 34; audio
output means 35 for converting audio data received as a digital
signal into an analog signal and outputting it as voice; and audio
input means 36 for converting an analog signal inputted as voice
into audio data in the form of a digital signal. Note that it may
be possible to use a general IP phone terminal device as the
communication device 3. The communication terminal device 3 may be
in any form if it is a device having an IP phone function.
[0050] FIG. 3 is a table conceptually showing an example of
recorded contents in the communication state database 13a included
in the relay device 1 of the present invention. In the
communication state database 13a, the delay time distribution and
CODEC are recorded as the communication state information
indicating the communication state corresponding to the
transmission direction and attributes of packets. The delay time
distribution is indicated by items such as the packet loss rate,
fixed delay, varying delay, and set values which are data related
to these items. The delay time of varying delay recorded in the
communication state database 13a is a delay time indicating the
difference between an expected arrival time and an actual arrival
time of a packet transmitted over a VoIP network to be simulated.
The loss rate indicates by percentage the ratio of packets which
were lost before arriving at their destination. In the example
shown in FIG. 3, the loss rate is 1.1%. The fixed delay is a
constant delay caused mainly by the communication network
structure, such as the physical distance of the communication
network, and the number of devices. If only the varying delay is
taken into consideration, the numerical value indicating the fixed
delay may be unnecessary. The varying delay is the values showing
the distribution of delay times of transmitted packets by
associating classified delay times shown as a supplementary item
with the occurrence rate of the delay times. In the example shown
in FIG. 3, the delay time is classified every 30 ms, and a
numerical value of 61% is associated as the set value for the class
of varying delay of not smaller than 0 ms but smaller than 30 ms.
This means that the provability of occurrence of varying delay of
not smaller than 0 ms but smaller than 30 ms is 61%. Similarly, the
provability of occurrence of varying delay of not smaller than 30
ms but smaller than 60 ms is 14%, the provability of occurrence of
varying delay of not smaller than 60 ms but smaller than 90 ms is
7%, and the provability of occurrence of varying delay equal to or
greater than 90 ms is 8%. Note that the rate of occurrence of delay
time indicates, by percentage, the ratio of delayed packets to the
arrived packets excluding packets lost during the transmission over
the VoIP network. In the item of CODEC, the types of encoding and
decoding with respect to audio data are recorded as set values.
When reproducing communications via a plurality of communication
networks, there may be a state where different types of encoding
and decoding are used for the respective communication networks.
The example shown in FIG. 3 indicates settings where encoding and
decoding are performed n times for communications via a plurality
of communication networks.
[0051] A plurality of communication state databases 13a shown as an
example in FIG. 3 are recorded in association with each of the
transmission directions and attributes of packets relayed by the
relay device 1. The packet transmission directions include
directions such as the transmission direction from the first
communication device 3a to the second communication device 3b, and
the transmission direction from the second communication device 3b
to the first communication device 3a, or so-called up-direction and
down-direction. The attributes of a packet show attributes such as
the source device and destination device of the packet, the
protocol and type of the packet. Regarding the devices, although
the communication state database 13a is set for each of the
communication devices 3 as the source device or the destination
device, classifications such as the phone number and alias may also
be taken into consideration. "For each protocol" means that the
communication state database 13a is set for each SIP that is a
control singling protocol, and each RTP/RTCP that is a streaming
protocol. "For each packet type" means that the communication state
database 13a is set for each session of audio, video, etc.
specified by RTP that is a streaming protocol.
[0052] FIG. 4 is an explanatory view conceptually showing an
example of the recorded contents in the channel table 14a included
in the relay device 1 of the present invention. Recorded in the
channel table 14a in association with an index is channel
information, such as a reception port, the IP address of a
communication device 3 which is to communicate with the port, an
assigned device indicating a virtual device assigned for later
described communication processing with this communication device
3, and the phone number of the communication device 3.
[0053] Next, the following will explain the processes executed by
the relay device 1 of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a functional
block diagram showing conceptually the relationship between a
structural example of a part of a program module developed by the
relay device 1 of the present invention and other structures. In
the relay device 1 of the present invention, when the computer
program 200 is executed under the control of the control means 11,
a virtual signaling receiving section 1000 for receiving a packet
specified by a signaling protocol such as SIP, a plurality of
virtual processing units 1100, 1100, . . . for processing packets
based on the communication state information, a virtual channel
processing unit 1200 for controlling a channel based on the channel
table 14a, and a signaling analyzing unit 1300 for performing a
process such as an analysis related to a packet specified by a
signaling protocol are set on the recording means 13 and/or the
storing means 14. A packet specified by a signaling protocol
received by the signaling receiving section 1000 is a packet called
INVITE of the SIP protocol which is transmitted first from the
communication device 3 requesting the initiation of communication
(hereinafter referred to as the INVITE packet), and channels and
processing units 1100, 1100, . . . are set based on the INVITE
packet in the relay device 1. Note that it may be possible to use a
signaling protocol, such as H.323, other than SIP. When the
signaling protocol is H.323, the packet which is to be received by
the signaling receiving section 1000 is a packet called SETUP of
H.225.
[0054] In the signaling receiving section 1000, a plurality of
well-known ports for receiving INVITE packets are set corresponding
to the communication devices 3, 3, . . . , respectively. In other
words, a plurality of well-known ports are set as virtual reception
ports 1001, 1001, . . . In order to set a plurality of logical
communication channels for communicating with a plurality of
communication devices 3, 3, . . . through a single physical first
communication line 101 which connects the relay device 1 and the
connection device 2, a plurality of logical virtual reception ports
1001, 1001, . . . for receiving the INVITE packets from the
respective communication devices are set. Note that this embodiment
is explained based on an assumption that the communication state
database 13a exemplified in FIG. 3 is set for each of the virtual
reception ports 1001, 1001, . . . when a simulation is set for each
of the up-direction and down-direction of packet transmission. It
may also be possible to use only one virtual reception port 1001
and change the settings of simulations in the up-direction and the
down-direction, according to classifications such as the
destination device/source device phone number, and alias.
[0055] The processing units 1100, 1100, . . . correspond to the
respective communication devices 3, 3, . . . involved in
communications to be relayed, and each processing unit 1100
includes a signaling processing unit 1110 (processing unit) for
performing a process related to a packet specified by a control
protocol, such as a INVITE packet, and a media processing unit 1120
(processing unit) for performing a process related to a packet
specified by a streaming protocol. Further, in the media processing
unit 1120, session processing units 1121, 1121, . . . are set
according to the types of streaming data, that is, sessions. An
arbitrary number of session processing units 1121, 1121, . . . is
set according to the types of streaming data to be relayed, and,
when transmitting each audio and video by one session of RTP, for
example, four session processing units 1121, 1121, 1121 and 1121
are set to control a total of four lines of sessions of audio
RTP/RTCP and video RTP/RTCP. The signaling processing unit 1110
includes a transmitting and receiving section 1110a for performing
a process related to the transmission and reception of a packet, a
delay adding section 1110b for performing the process of adding a
later-described delay time to a received packet, and a buffer 1110c
for accumulating a packet. Similarly, each of the session
processing units 1121, 1121, . . . included in the media processing
unit 1120 comprises a transmitting and receiving section 1121a, a
delay adding section 1121b, and a buffer 1121c.
[0056] The channel processing unit 1200 performs a process of
selecting an appropriate destination of a received INVITE packet
and setting a processing unit 1100, and a process of allocating the
received INVITE packet to the set processing unit 1100. In other
words, the channel processing unit 1200 performs a process of
passing an INVITE packet received at the virtual reception port
1001 set in the signaling receiving section 1000 to a processing
unit 1100 corresponding to the communication device 3 as the source
device. Moreover, the channel processing unit 1200 manages and
controls the overall processing by accessing the communication
state database 13a and clock means 16 and delivering information to
the signaling analyzing unit 1300.
[0057] With the use of a program module developed on the recording
means 13 and/or the storing means 14 shown in FIG. 5, the relay
device 1 of the present invention performs a packet communication
relay process. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a first communication
initial process to be performed by the relay device 1 of the
present invention. The first communication initial process is a
process of setting a channel and a processing unit 1100, which is
performed when an INVITE packet is received from a communication
device 3 requesting the initiation of communication. First, the
communication device 3 performs a calling process for transmitting
an INVITE packet to the relay device 1 of the present invention,
which is preset as an SIP proxy server for performing call setup.
In the relay device 1, under the control of the control means 11
executing the computer program 200, the INVITE packet is received
by the communication means 15 through the first communication line
101, and the received signaling packet is accepted by the virtual
reception port 1001 set in the signaling receiving section 1000
(S101).
[0058] Under the control of the control means 11, the relay device
1 analyzes the signaling packet at the signaling analyzing unit
1300 and extracts the channel information such as the IP address
and phone number related to the communication device 3 (first
communication device 3a) on the sending end which transmitted the
signaling packet (S102), and records the extracted channel
information and a reception port indicating the virtual reception
port 1001 which accepted the packet in the channel table 14a
(S103).
[0059] Under the control of the control means 11, the relay device
1 sets two virtual processing units 1100 and 1100 including the
signaling processing units 1110 corresponding to the first
communication device 3a and the second communication device 3b,
respectively (S104), further sets a media processing unit 1120 in
the processing unit 1100 corresponding to the first communication
device 3a, based on the contents of the INVITE packet (S105),
records the set processing unit 1100 as a virtual device in the
channel table 14a (S106), and rewrites the contents of the INVITE
packet, according to the channel table 14a (S107). "Rewriting"
mentioned in step S107 means the process of rewriting the channel
information such as the IP address of the first communication
device 3a indicated as the source device in the INVITE packet by
the channel information such as the IP address of the relay device
1 and rewriting the channel information about the relay device 1
indicated as the destination device by the channel information
about the second communication device 3b. Note that items in the
channel table 14a related to the second communication device 3b as
the destination device are manually set in advance. Of course, it
may be possible to receive a REGISTER packet of SIP and set the
items automatically. By performing rewriting shown in step S107, a
packet including the contents related to a response to the INVITE
packet transmitted to the second communication device 3b is
transmitted from the second communication device 3b to the relay
device 1 by the process described below. Note that in "Setting the
media processing unit 1120" mentioned in step S105, a plurality of
media processing units 1120 may be set for each media type.
[0060] Then, under the control of the control means 11, as a
process performed by a delay adding section 1110b of the signaling
processing unit 1110 corresponding to the first communication
device 3a, the relay device 1 reads the communication state
information containing the loss rate and the delay time
distribution corresponding to a control packet to be transmitted
from the first communication device 3a to the second communication
device 3b together with the information on the channel table 14a
from the communication state database 13a (S108), and determines,
based on the loss rate contained in the read communication state
information, whether or not to discard the signaling packet
(S109).
[0061] In step S109, when a determination is made not to discard
the signaling packet (S109: NO), under the control of the control
means 11, the relay device 1 calculates a delay time based on the
delay time distribution contained in the communication state
information as the process performed by the delay adding section
1110b of the signaling processing unit 1110 corresponding to the
first communication device 3a (S110), derives a scheduled
transmission time of the signaling packet based on the calculated
delay time and the time indicated by the clock means 16 (S111), and
accumulates the signaling packet in association with the derived
scheduled transmission time in the buffer 1110c of the signaling
processing unit 1110 corresponding to the second communication
device 3b as the destination device (S112). Then, under the control
of the control means 11, the relay device 1 refers to the time
indicated by the clock means 16, and, after reaching the
transmission time associated with the signaling packet accumulated
in the buffer 1110c of the signaling processing unit 1110
corresponding to the second communication device 3b, it transmits
the accumulated signaling packet from the communication means 15 to
the second communication device 3b through the first communication
line 101 by a process performed in a transmitting and receiving
section 1110a included in the signaling processing unit 1110 of the
processing unit 1100 corresponding to the second communication
device 3b (S113). In step S109, when a determination is made to
discard the signaling packet (S109: YES), the signaling packet is
discarded (S114), and the processing related to this packet is
completed. Although it is possible to use various algorithms
including already disclosed techniques for the processing, such as
discarding of a packet and calculation of a delay time by the delay
adding section 1110b, related to steps S108 to S114, the algorithm
disclosed in the International Patent Application No.
PCT/JP2004/19642 filed by the applicant of the present application
is recommended here.
[0062] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a second communication initial
process to be performed by the relay device 1 of the present
invention. The second communication initial process is a process
which is performed upon reception from the second communication
device 3b a packet (hereinafter referred to as the response packet)
including the contents related to a response to the INVITE packet
transmitted to the second communication device 3b in the first
communication process. Under the control of the control means 11
executing the computer program 200, the relay device 1 receives the
response packet by the communication means 15 through the first
communication line 101 and accepts it at the transmitting and
receiving section 1110a included in the signaling processing unit
1110 of the processing unit 1100 corresponding to the second
communication device 3b (S201).
[0063] Under the control of the control means 11, the relay device
1 sets a media processing unit 1120 in the processing unit 1100
corresponding to the second communication device 3b, based on the
contents of the response packet (S202), and rewrites the contents
of the response packet, according to the channel table 14a (S203).
"Rewriting" mentioned in step S203 means the process of rewriting
the channel information such as the IP address of the second
communication device 3b indicated as the source device in the
response packet by the channel information such as the IP address
of the relay device 1 and rewriting the channel information about
the relay device 1 indicated as the destination device by the
channel information about the first communication device 3a. Note
that in "Setting the media processing unit 1120" mentioned in step
S202, a plurality of media processing units 1120 may be set for
each media type.
[0064] Then, under the control of the control means 11, as a
process performed by the delay adding section 1110b of the
signaling processing unit 1110 corresponding to the second
communication device 3b, the relay device 1 reads from the
communication state database 13a the communication state
information containing the loss rate and the delay time
distribution corresponding to a control packet to be transmitted
from the second communication device 3b to the first communication
device 3a together with the information on the channel table 14a
(S204), and determines, based on the loss rate contained in the
read communication state information, whether or not to discard the
response packet (S205).
[0065] In step S205, when a determination is made not to discard
the response packet (S205: NO), under the control of the control
means 11, the relay device 1 calculates a delay time based on the
delay time distribution contained in the communication state
information as the process performed by the delay adding section
1110b of the signaling processing unit 1110 corresponding to the
second communication device 3b (S206), derives a scheduled
transmission time of the response packet based on the calculated
delay time and the time indicated by the clock means 16 (S207), and
accumulates the response packet in association with the derived
scheduled transmission time in the buffer 1110c of the signaling
processing unit 1110 corresponding to the first communication
device 3a as the destination device (S208). Then, under the control
of the control means 11, the relay device 1 refers to the time
indicated by the clock means 16, and, after reaching the
transmission time associated with the response packet accumulated
in the buffer 1110c of the signaling processing unit 1110
corresponding to the first communication device 3a, it transmits
the accumulated response packet from the communication means 15 to
the first communication device 3a through the first communication
line 101 by a process performed by the transmitting and receiving
section 1110a included in the signaling processing unit 1110 of the
processing unit 1100 corresponding to the first communication
device 3a (S209). In step S205, when a determination is made to
discard the response packet (S205: YES), the response packet is
discarded (S210), and the processing related to this packet is
completed. Although it is possible to use various algorithms
including already disclosed techniques for the processing related
to steps S204 to S210, such as discarding of a packet and
calculation of a delay time performed by the delay adding section
110b, the algorithm disclosed in the International Patent
Application No. PCT/JP2004/19642 filed by the applicant of the
present application is recommended here. Further, if a response
packet follows, the second communication initial process is
repeated. However, the setup of the media processing unit 1120 in
S202 is not necessary if it has been performed once. There is also
a case where the communication devices 3 and 3 on the sending end
and the receiving end are switched. Through the first communication
initial process and second communication initial process described
using FIGS. 6 and 7, a plurality of processing units 1100,
signaling processing units 1110, media processing units 1120 or the
like are set according to each of the attributes such as protocols
and sessions and the transmission direction (source device).
Moreover, through the first communication initial process and
second communication initial process, the first communication
device 3a and the second communication device 3b recognize that a
call setup process for establishing communication channels has been
completed.
[0066] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a communication relay process
to be performed by the relay device 1 of the present invention. The
communication relay process is the process of relaying streaming
communication performed after establishing communication channels
by the first communication initial process and second communication
initial process. The first communication device 3a on the sending
end transmits streaming communication packets (hereinafter referred
to as the media packets) containing media information, such as
audio and video specified by a protocol such as RTP and RTCP, as
streaming data of payload to the relay device 1 to forward the
packets to the second communication device 3b. Under the control of
the control means 11 executing the computer program 200, the relay
device 1 receives the media packets by the communication means 15
through the first communication line 101, and accepts the received
media packets at the transmitting and receiving section 1121a
included in the media processing unit 1120 of the processing unit
1100 corresponding to the first communication device 3a and also
corresponding to the type of streaming data to be relayed
(S301).
[0067] Under the control of the control means 11, as a process
performed by the delay adding section 1121b of a media processing
unit 1120 corresponding to the first communication device 3a and
the type of streaming data contained in the received media packet,
the relay device 1 reads from the communication state database 13a
the communication state information containing the packet
transmission direction from the first communication device 3a to
the second communication device 3b, the loss rate and the delay
time distribution corresponding to attributes such as the protocol
and type together with the information on the channel table 14a
(S302), and determines, based on the loss rate contained in the
read communication state information, whether or not to discard the
media packet (S303). In step S303, when a determination is made not
to discard the media packet (S303: NO), the relay device 1 performs
an encoding and decoding process once or a plurality of times on
the media packet, under the control of the control means 11 (S304).
The encoding and decoding process performed in step S304 is the
process of reproducing CODEC which is performed when performing
communication over an actual communication network. Therefore, if a
communication network to be used for supposed communication is
established with a plurality of communication networks and encoding
and decoding are performed many times during transmission over the
respective communication networks, a plurality of times of encoding
and decoding are performed according to processing methods
(algorithms) defined for the respective communication networks.
Note that the conditions of encoding and decoding, namely
processing methods performed as individual encoding and decoding
processes, are determined with reference to the set values of CODEC
recorded in the channel table 14a.
[0068] Under the control of the control means 11, as a process
performed by the delay adding section 1121b of the media processing
unit 1120 corresponding to the first communication device 3a, the
relay device 1 calculates a delay time based on the delay time
distribution contained in the communication state information
(S305), derives a scheduled transmission time of the media packet
based on the calculated delay time and the time indicated by the
clock means 16 (S306), and accumulates the media packet in
association with the derived scheduled transmission time in the
buffer 1121c of the media processing unit 1120 corresponding to the
first communication device 3a (S307).
[0069] FIG. 9 is an explanatory view conceptually showing an
example of packets accumulated in the buffer 1121c set in the relay
device 1 of the present invention. In the buffer 1121c, the
scheduled transmission time, the IP address and port number of the
communication device 3 as the destination device, and packet data
of each packet are recorded in association with an index. The
scheduled transmission time is the packet transmission time derived
by the relay device 1 based on the communication state information.
Regarding the packet data, as the information indicated in the data
section of each packet, the present invention may include
information such as audio data for reproducing voice. Note that the
above-mentioned signaling packet and RTCP packet are also
accumulated in the same manner.
[0070] Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 8, under the control of
the control means 11, the relay device 1 refers to the time
indicated by the clock means 16, and, after reaching the
transmission time associated with the media packet accumulated in
the buffer 1121c of the media processing unit 1120 corresponding to
the first communication device 3a, it transmits the accumulated
media packet from the communication means 15 to the second
communication device 3b through the first communication line 101 by
the process performed in the transmitting and receiving section
1121a included in the media processing unit 1120 of the processing
unit 1100 corresponding to the first communication device 3a
(S308). In step S303, when a determination is made to discard the
media packet (S303: YES), the media packet is discarded (S309), and
the processing related to this packet is completed. Although it is
possible to use various algorithms including already disclosed
techniques for the processing related to steps S303 to S309 such as
discarding of a packet and calculation of a delay time performed by
the delay adding section 1121b, the algorithm disclosed in the
International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2004/19642 filed by the
applicant of the present application is recommended here.
[0071] As explained using FIG. 8, since the media packet is
transmitted in one direction without requiring a response, there is
no need to perform the process of rewriting the contents of a
packet, which is performed for the signaling packet and the
response packet. Moreover, there is such a difference that the
signaling packet and the response packet are accumulated in the
buffer 1110c of the signaling processing unit 1110 included in the
processing unit 1100 corresponding to the second communication
device 3b as the destination device (or the first communication
device 3a for the response packet), but the media packet is
accumulated in the buffer 1121c of the media processing unit 1121
included in the processing unit 1100 corresponding to the first
communication device 3a as the source device.
[0072] Through the above-described processes, the relay device 1
transmits the media packets to the second communication device 3b
based on the transmission times, and a subject who operates the
second communication device 3b audits the voice outputted from the
second communication device 3b based on the received media packets.
The quality of the outputted voice is the quality of communication
reproducing the state of communication over the communication
network through which the media packets pass, based on the
information recorded in the communication state database 13a.
[0073] Although the above-described embodiment illustrates a mode
for evaluating communication quality by reproducing the state of
communication over the VoIP network used as IP phones, the present
invention is not limited to this and may be developed in various
modes, such as for use in evaluating the communication quality
related to television video streaming. Moreover, it is apparent
that the transmission and receiving directions between the first
communication device and the second communication device may be
switched, or bilateral communication may be performed.
[0074] Further, although the above-described embodiment illustrates
a mode for relaying communication between one set of communication
devices, namely the first communication device and second
communication device, the present invention is not limited to this
and may relay communications between two or more sets of
communication devices.
* * * * *